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Tracing urban development
in ancient Pompeii

September
19,
2008 -- During
SF State's first archeological field school in Pompeii this summer students
unearthed a preserved drain pipe and its contents from the first century
-- evidence that will provide clues about the urban development of Pompeii.

Excavation in progress at the SF State archeological field school in Pompeii.

Led by Assistant Professor of Classics Michael Anderson, students spent seven
weeks in Pompeii, the Italian city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
in the first century, where they were exposed to cutting-edge technology
and archeological search techniques.

"The season went very well and the students had a marvelous time" Anderson
said. "We cleaned two areas down to the level of the 79 C.E. eruption
and dug one test trench where we found a first century drain pipe and its
contents. This will be useful for reconstructing the activities of the
shop that was on that site."

The field school is run in collaboration with the Via Consolare Project,
a research project, started by Anderson in 2005, that investigates the
process and history of urbanization in Pompeii and its suburbs. The project
is named for the street it examines and focuses on two sites along the
Via Consolare: a city block near the heart of Pompeii and the area around
Villa delle Colonne a Mosaico, a large villa just outside the city wall.

"Comparing these two locations allows us to look at the development
of the whole city and to test the validity of preconceived notions of the
difference between urban and suburban space in the ancient world," said
Anderson, who has spent more than a decade carrying out excavations in
Pompeii.

Remains of the Villa delle Colonne a Mosaico, an area that once comprised
a villa, metalworking and pottery workshops, civic buildings, bars, and
tombs.

"We are looking at changes in Pompeii that are not yet understood.
A lot of attention has been paid to the evidence preserved by the eruption
of Vesuvius, but our research goes back hundreds of years before that and
explains more about southern Italy before Roman rule," Anderson said.
With a doctorate in classical archeology from the University of Cambridge,
Anderson's expertise includes ancient daily life and the Roman house.

During the next academic year, faculty and students in the classics department
will be processing huge volumes of material collected in Pompeii. Survey
information and photographs need converting into 3-D models and the team
is designing and populating a digital archive of material records, photos
and sketches. In his research, Anderson has championed the use of open
source technology including the use of video game software to produce 3-D
models -- tools he hopes to eventually introduce as part of the field school.

The 2009 field school will include opportunities for participation by
students from SF State and other universities and there are plans to provide
class credit the College of Extended
Learning. See the Web site for more details: http://www.sfsu.edu/~pompeii/